Canada and Saskatchewan Invest $35 Million in Tuition-Free Early Childhood Education Training Aligned with National Vision

August 22, 2024 – The governments of Canada and Saskatchewan have announced a substantial investment of nearly $35 million over the next two years to provide tuition-free early childhood educator (ECE) training in the province. This funding, part of the Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreement, aims to enhance the quality, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, and inclusivity of early learning and childcare across Saskatchewan.

Key Components of the Investment

• Tuition-Free Training: Over 4,000 training seats will be offered at no cost for current and prospective ECEs, enabling them to achieve Certification Levels I, II, or III and advance their careers.
• Professional Development: The funding will support more than 5,300 professional development sessions, helping educators enhance their skills and expertise.
• Institutional Support: Ten post-secondary institutions, including Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, will facilitate training programs in various formats, including full-time, part-time, online, and evening classes, to accommodate diverse learning needs.

Alignment with Canada-Wide ELCC Vision

The investment is guided by the Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework, which envisions that all Canadian families will have access to high-quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child care services. To achieve this, Canada and Saskatchewan have committed to several shared objectives:

1. Affordability: Reduce out-of-pocket fees for regulated childcare by 50% by the end of 2022 and further to an average of $10 per day by the fiscal year 2025-2026.
2. Access: Increase regulated childcare spaces to cover 59% of children under age 6 by 2025-2026, focusing on not-for-profit and family-based providers.
3. Quality: Improve the quality of childcare through evidence-based frameworks, a new wage grid for ECEs, and raising the percentage of fully certified childcare workers by 15 percentage points by 2025-2026.
4. Inclusion: Ensure childcare spaces cater to diverse and vulnerable children, such as those with disabilities, Indigenous children, and children from racialized communities.

Funding Allocation and Progress Targets

From fall 2024 to spring 2026, up to $16.5 million will be allocated for the 2024-25 academic year and up to $18.4 million for 2025-26. This funding builds on a previous investment of $26 million in post-secondary opportunities between 2021 and 2024.

The investment will support various initiatives, including:

• Creating more than 4,000 tuition-free training seats.
• Enhancing quality through professional development and adherence to provincial certification standards.
• Ensuring the availability of childcare spaces for diverse families, including those from marginalized communities.

Supporting Workforce Development

To strengthen the ECE workforce, Saskatchewan will focus on recruitment and retention by offering tuition-free education and professional development opportunities. This approach aims to address the increased demand for qualified ECEs, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill emphasized the importance of this initiative: “We are addressing the needs of the early years sector by continuing to recruit and retain certified early childhood educators, which is crucial for providing high-quality early learning and childcare in Saskatchewan.”

Strategic Goals and Future Directions

Both Canada and Saskatchewan agree to prioritize federal investments for children under age six and expand the regulated childcare system by:

• Utilizing funds for regulated programs and services that meet provincial and territorial standards.
• Supporting not-for-profit and public childcare operations and family home childcare providers.
• Developing innovative approaches to enhance the quality, affordability, and accessibility of childcare.

This Agreement is effective until March 31, 2026, with an option for extension, allowing for review, adjustment, and the realignment of new priorities.

The $35 million investment reflects a strategic effort to bolster early childhood education in Saskatchewan, aligned with Canada’s vision for a nationwide ELCC system. By providing tuition-free training and prioritizing quality, access, and inclusivity, the initiative aims to ensure that all families in Saskatchewan have access to affordable, high-quality childcare services, supporting the broader goal of a robust, Canada-wide early learning framework.

List of participating post-secondary institutions:

• Carlton Trail College
• College Mathieu
• Dumont Technical Institute
• Great Plains College
• North West College
• Northlands College
• Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT)
• Saskatchewan Polytechnic
• Southeast College
• Suncrest College

Table 1: Saskatchewan’s Projected Financial Allocations Under the

Canada-Saskatchewan Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement

*These allocations are based on population estimates by Statistics Canada as of July 1, 2020, for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Allocations for the subsequent years (2022 to 2026) are projected using the Medium Growth M1 Population Growth Scenario from Statistics Canada’s long-term population growth models.

The populations of children aged 0 to 12 for Saskatchewan and the total for all provinces and territories for each fiscal year are determined using preliminary population estimates as of July 1 of the respective fiscal year, released by Statistics Canada in September.

A “fiscal year” in this context refers to the period starting April 1 of any calendar year and ending on March 31 of the following calendar year. These funding allocations are designed to support Saskatchewan’s efforts to enhance early learning and child care by increasing access, affordability, and quality, in alignment with the goals of the Canada-wide early learning and child care system.